


tell me something i don't already know

by rita5



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Best Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Spideychelle, all parties are 18 and up because i dont feel comfortable writing about underage ppl, but im doing my best, everyone appreciates ned which is how it should be, mild spoilers for umbrella academy, mj cant breathe around peter which is a mood, oh my god i just typed so many tags ao3 DELETED THEM, probably slightly out of character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-13 15:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18034016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rita5/pseuds/rita5
Summary: MJ is comfortable with the knowledge that she really, really wants to kiss that boy. It's whatever. One of those simple, unchangeable facts about her. Michelle Jones likes coconut chapstick, loud music, and Peter Parker.alt: michelle is very smart and very observant and so very, very oblivious.





	1. ever

**Author's Note:**

> read the end notes !!
> 
> follow me on twitter: @zendayawlw

Contrary to popular belief, Michelle Jones is not emotionally inept. She's perfectly in tune with her feelings and very capable of handling them, thank-you-very-much. Anyone who has been a part of her social debate groupchat - the topic of which is always _"TOMATO: FRUIT OR VEGETABLE?"_ can attest to that.

Most of the students at Midtown who come into contact with MJ assume she thinks very little of emotions, and perhaps doesn't experience most of them. If you ask one of these people, "Does Michelle have a crush?" they would scoff. Michelle? Have a crush? When hell freezes over, maybe.

Well, those jerks couldn’t be more wrong.

MJ has had a crush. MJ’s _got_ a crush. In fact, she's had the same crush for over 10 years now. It's just a regular part of her life; dependable, automatic. Even now, as she puts on her jacket, she can’t help but glance out of her bedroom window, into his room. He’s there, of course he is, with one shoe on, tossing things around as he looks for the other. She does this every morning before school, and still her treacherous brain sends the command _"HEART. START BEATING. FASTER.”_ as though this is the very first time.

He almost never looks back at her. Not for any particular reason, he's just always busy or distracted. MJ never looks for long, anyway. She has the same internal debate every time: _This is creepy and an invasion of privacy. But he has been her neighbor since the second grade and he's fully capable of closing the curtains so in a way, he’s allowing her to look in and she’s just respecting his freedom of choice._ He's also just a complete dumbass and MJ knows full well he wouldn’t bother to shut his curtains even if she put up a neon sign reading, "HEY, I CAN SEE YOU!"

So, there are a few gray areas when it comes to what healthy, normal behavior is, but for the most part, MJ's very comfortable with the knowledge that she really, really wants to kiss this boy. It's whatever. One of those simple, unchangeable facts about her. Michelle Jones likes coconut chapstick, loud music, and Peter Parker. No big deal.

-

The last day of her senior year is pretty uneventful. Half the graduating class doesn't even show up and the teachers don't bother trying to maintain any structure, so the remaining students mostly sit on their desks and post fake-sappy throwbacks on snapchat. MJ even spends one period in the art room collecting leftover supplies to fuel her projects over the summer.

When the last bell finally rings, MJ almost doesn't make it outside before the chaos begins. She ends up leaning against the building, watching a flood of screaming teenagers rush out the doors, when a voice behind her makes her jump.

"Need a lift?"

When MJ turns around, Peter's there, waggling his eyebrows and dangling his backpack in front of her suggestively.

"Great idea, Parker. Suit up and-" She flicks her wrist in the air, "swing me home so all of Midtown High knows that I'm best friends with Spiderman."

Because, oh yeah, forgot to drop that bombshell. Peter is MJ's best friend. Who just so happens to be her neighbor. And also the love of her life. And also everyone's friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

"Okay, hear me out." Peter begins, trailing after MJ when she breezes past him, down the sidewalk. "Honestly, a secret identity reveal on the last day of school? Think about it! What a power move!"

"Ned would murder you if he knew you were even joking about this right now." MJ says when Peter finally catches up to her at the crosswalk. (She knows he's being generous. He could easily keep pace with her.)

"Ugh. Yeah, I know. He would never forgive me if we told everyone without him."

The light changes and they hustle across the street with 30 other students who are also heading to the 71st Street station. As MJ and Peter shoulder through the crowd, she thinks of Ned and realizes.. she kind of misses him. His parents pulled him out two weeks early to go on vacation and the lack of his presence is definitely noticeable.

"I miss him." Peter voices MJ's thoughts out loud and she sighs in response. They trudge up the stairs to the subway station in momentary silence.

"Me too. I had to turn notifications off for our chat. Did you see how many people were giving him updates, like, every thirty minutes?"

Peter chuckles as he swipes his metrocard.

"Yeah, I saw that. Did you see Betty sent him a picture of the boys' bathroom?"

"What? No! Why?" Several people glance over and MJ glares back.

"She said she wanted him to remember what they look like since next year, all bathrooms will be gender neutral." MJ rolls her eyes at this and nearly trips going up the stairs to the tracks. Luckily, Peter is there with a hand on her arm before she even has time to process this near death experience.

"Thanks, Spidey." MJ can be a good friend when she wants to be, so she pretends not to see the color in Peter's cheeks and the way he tries to stop himself from smiling. "Okay, I have a few problems with the bathroom thing if you want to hear them."

"I think you're going to tell me anyway, so-"

"First of all, they don't actually have to make any changes to the bathrooms in order to make them gender neutral. Like, just change the signs."

She pauses as the rumbling of the 7 train grows too loud to talk over. When the train rolls to a stop, Peter and MJ step to the side automatically to let other passengers get off. Lucky for them, their neighborhood is only three stops away, but that doesn't stop MJ from scowling at Peter when he takes the only available seat.

"Do you really need to sit, asshole? You're probably the only person in New York who could stand all day and not get tired."

Peter shrugs. She flips him off with one hand and grabs the rail with the other when the train starts moving again. Peter pulls out his phone and starts playing a game so MJ takes advantage of the opportunity to study him. He's wearing a plain, dark blue shirt and jeans, a look that shouldn't make it seem like he invented fashion but does so anyway. His black sunglasses are pushed up on top of his head, causing a few strands of hair to curl out around his ears. MJ vaguely remembers a time when that hair was long enough to put in a ponytail, then another time when it was completely buzzed off.

Sometimes, MJ looks at Peter and remembers all the versions of him she's ever known.

The Peter who pretended to babysit her doll when they were eight years old. Peter, who tied her shoes every day for a month when they came undone at school (she'd scraped her knees badly and bending down to do it herself was unbearably painful). Peter, the boy that got a cell phone for his 13th birthday and the first thing he did was call MJ's house to tell her the big news. Peter, who somehow forgets that MJ can see into his bedroom, so when he blasts One Direction and dances his heart out, she gets a front row seat to the show.

And then there's the Peter who became Spiderman.

Halfway through sophmore year, Peter started keeping his curtains closed. All the time. At first, MJ thought.. well, she didn't know what to think. She tried to reason with herself - he's 16, maybe he needs more privacy, maybe he's in trouble with Aunt May, maybe... maybe he got tired of MJ being a creep.

MJ is jolted out of her thoughts when the train stops for the third time and Peter hops out of his seat. She blinks and follows him onto the platform.

They eventually part ways on the sidewalk between their houses, with Peter shouting, "Pizza or pho?" as he walks backwards to his own front steps.

"Pizza." MJ answers without raising her voice because, y'know, super hearing. "The last day of school is a special occasion. We deserve to eat junk food."

"See you in 30 minutes?"

MJ gives him a thumbs up and unlocks her front door. The warm smell of banana bread greets her when she enters the house.

"Mom! I'm home!" MJ calls, dropping her backpack and slipping her shoes off.

"How was your day, honey? Last day of school!" MJ crosses the living room and takes a seat at the kitchen bar. Her mom is busy washing dishes but she pauses to give MJ a smile.

"Nice apron." MJ remarks with a smirk. Her mom quickly turns back to the sink, causing Michelle to raise an eyebrow. It's a pretty apron- white with giant sunflowers printed all over. MJ's never seen it before now.

"Thank you. Sandra got it for me."

"Ooooh, Sandraaaa!" MJ singsongs, " _Sandra_ got it for you. I should have known." Her mom accidentally clashes two dishes together and MJ cackles.

"I'm just messing with you, Mom. Today was so boring. Even more boring than usual."

"Well, at least you won't have to worry about boring school days ever again!" MJ's mom places the last wet bowl on the drying rack and turns around to face her fully. There's a tiny bit of flour in her hair and her dark skin is slightly flushed thanks to the heat of the oven.

"Unless I go to college." MJ points out.

"That's true."

"We'll see."

"Okay. Banana bread will be ready in ten minutes."

"I'm taking a shower then going to Peter's house." MJ hops off the bar stool and heads down the hall to her bedroom.

"Take some bread for May!" Her mom calls after her.

"I will!" MJ replies. She glances through the window as she enters her room and sees Peter exiting his room, shirtless, with a towel thrown over his shoulder. And.. there it is. _Bumpbump, bumpbump, bumpbump._ Faster, faster, faster. Traitor. MJ shakes away the goosebumps caused by _Peter Parker without a shirt_ and grabs the most comfortable clothes she can find; an old, worn t-shirt and her softest pair of sweatpants.

After she gets out of the shower, MJ wraps half the banana bread in foil, kisses her mom on the cheek, and tiptoes barefoot through the garden until she reaches Peter's front door. It swings open as she's going up the steps - no matter how quiet she tries to walk, Peter always beats her to the door. She hasn't had to knock in two years. And honestly, the grin on his face is so smug and dorky, it's ridiculous.

"Greetings, fellow human." Peter moves aside so MJ can come in. She shoves him with her shoulder once for good measure.

"Can't you just be normal for once, Parker?"

"Negative." MJ doesn't feed into his weirdness anymore; instead she tosses the banana bread on the kitchen counter and sits on the back of the couch.

"Aunt May, MJ's ruining your furniture!" Peter singsongs in a stereotypical tattletale voice. MJ scowls and leans back so she's laying upside down on the couch, her legs dangling over the back.

"No, I'm not! Aunt May, my mom made banana bread, it's on the counter." MJ hears May's footsteps approaching from down the hall and quickly rolls over until she's laying on the couch.

"How was your last day of school, Michelle?" May leans over the couch and gently pinches her cheek. In return, MJ gives her what she hopes is an innocent smile.

"Boring. Hey!" MJ grunts when Peter sits on her legs, just below her knees. It doesn't really bother her but she puts on a show anyway, wiggling her feet and trying to scoot her legs out from under Peter's butt.

"Ow! You're hurting me!" (That's a lie and Peter knows it.)

"What did you say?" Peter grins, "Lay down and take a nap? Okay, MJ, if you insist." He leans over and lays his head on MJ's stomach, dangerously close to where her heart is pounding in her chest. "Good night."

"Ugh, why are you so annoying?!" MJ tries to glare but Peter is face down on her stomach now, mumbling something incoherent into her shirt.

"Get your face away from my boobs before I tell Aunt May." Peter jerks upright at that, whipping his head around to look at May, who is leaning against the counter with a mouthful of banana bread. She shrugs one shoulder.

"Peter knows I'll kick him out if he does anything to a person without consent. MJ, do you want Peter to get off and leave you alone?"

MJ considers this. Peter looks back at her, genuinely waiting for an answer, because of course he is. Stupid, kind, considerate Peter Parker. She doesn't really mind him giving her shit but her legs are starting to get numb and, yeah, maybe having his body so close to her is making her feel things.

"Yes." MJ decides and Peter's hopping off the couch before she can take her next breath.

"I swear, it's like having two toddlers sometimes." May mumbles, "I'm taking the rest of this to my room. You guys have fun, let me know if you need anything, all that stuff. Are you going on patrol tonight?" Her question is directed at Peter, of course, and he nods.

"I will later, after the pizza gets here. I'm starving." Peter throws himself across the armchair by the sofa and grabs the tv remote.

"Okay, let me know before you leave."

"Aye aye, chief." Satisfied with that, May disappears down the hall once again.

"I think you mean captain." MJ points out. Peter ignores her, busy scrolling through Netflix until he lands on Umbrella Academy. They're kind of marathoning it, they've watched an episode every night this week. As soon as Peter starts episode five, the doorbell rings.

"I got it!" Peter backflips off the chair (MJ's fucking jealous) and is at the door in one jump.

"Show off!" MJ boos at Peter when he returns with the pizza. He flicks his hair out of his eyes and gives her a smile that is almost embarrassed.

"You would show off more than I do, don't lie." He sets the box down on the coffee table before opening it and grabbing a slice. He takes a huge bite before MJ can warn him otherwise and yelps when it burns his tongue.

"That's what you get." Michelle taunts, "Now move, I can't see the screen." Peter returns to the chair and they watch as Klaus returns from a harrowing trip in time.

"You know what annoys me about this show?" MJ says through a bite of pizza about ten minutes later. 

"Everything, which is why we love it?"

"Well, yes, but right now, specifically, I'm annoyed that Ellen Page has to pretend to like a boy. Why couldn't Leonard be a girl!?" MJ frowns as Ellen's character is shown fawning over a guy again. She's frustrated because Ellen Page is gay and her love interest being a man isn't crucial to the story.

"Maybe they wanted people to dislike him and they thought a girl would be more likable." Peter suggests. He's already polished off half of the pizza but he webs one more slice from the coffee table anyway.

"I don't know about you, but I like both boys and girls."

"Me too. Up top." Without looking away from the tv, they each hold a hand up and air-high five. (This is not the first time that joke has been made.) As they fall back into silence, MJ wonders again what is so remarkable about Leonard - why does Vanya love him? Then it occurs to her - she loved Peter when he was unremarkable.

MJ glances at Peter. He's gnawing on a pizza crust in the dim, flickering light of the tv. His head is resting on the arm of the chair in a way that makes his brown hair fan out and, god, she wants to run her fingers through it, to feel it's silky softness against her skin. As if he could hear her thoughts, Peter suddenly turns his head and meets her gaze. He gives her a small smile and she takes it, she wants to taste it, she'll take every smile he ever gives her if it makes her feel like this. The corner of her mouth quirks up automatically and that must be what he wanted because he goes back to watching the show.

MJ has long forgotten what was happening but she turns her attention back to the tv anyway.

When the episode finally ends, they spend a few minutes bouncing opinions back and forth until an alarm on Peter's phone goes off and he gives her an apologetic look.

"It's patrol time. Give me a minute." He says, then races down the hall to his bedroom. MJ counts to ten before he opens the door and shouts, "Alright, I'm decent!"

It's always a bit of a trip, going into Peter's room and seeing through the window into her own room. It feels like she's in an alternate universe. She finds Peter sitting backwards in his computer chair, spinning in a circle, wearing all of his Spiderman suit except for the mask. She's not at all surprised. This is part of the routine they've had since MJ joined the Peter-is-Spiderman club. Meet at Peter's house, watch an episode or two of whatever show they're currently marathoning, then Peter goes on patrol for an hour before they all regroup and spend the rest of the night gossiping and giggling at inside jokes. The only thing missing is Ned, and MJ is secretly, shamefully, kind of glad he's gone. For the past two weeks, the highlight of her day has been laying in Peter's bed until she gets bored enough to go hang out with May.

"Aunt May, I'm leaving! Love you!" Peter yells.

MJ watches as he tilts his head to one side, listening for May's response. He must hear it, even though MJ doesn't hear anything, because he stands up from the chair and opens one of the windows in his room. Not the window that looks into MJ's room - the space between their houses is visible from the street and Peter won't risk being seen. No, the window by his bed is safer, it leads to a hidden alley behind their houses. Someone would have to intentionally turn a corner and go into the alley to see Peter climb out of the window. Plus, the building behind their houses is a few stories tall, so Peter can climb to the roof and swing away from there.

"You know the drill," MJ begins her nightly lecture, "don't do anything stupid. Call me if you're going to be late. If you see the guy who whistled at me on 36th Avenue last week, kick his ass."

Peter perches on the windowsill facing MJ and nods along with everything she says. MJ folds her arms over her chest and has to force herself to maintain eye contact with him. They share a moment of heavy silence. MJ hates this feeling. She knows Peter will be fine, that he does this every night and comes back in one piece more often than not. He's strong and agile and can literally sense danger from a mile away. These things only provide MJ with a slight bit of comfort. She reaches out with one hand and swipes Peter's hair out of his eyes and the way his eyelids flutter shut for a split second.. that makes her feel better than anything else. Peter is here, alive and real. She lets her hand fall down to her side. His brown, puppy-dog eyes stare up at her with a level of softness that makes her heart hurt.

"I'll only be gone for an hour." He says quietly. MJ exhales hard through her mouth.

"Longest hour of my life."

"Longer than the time you had to tutor Cindy and she didn't stop talking the whole time?"

Peter grins and MJ can't help but smile back, and just like that, the mood is lifted. She punches him gently on the arm.

"Go get 'em, tiger."

She takes a step back and watches as Peter pulls his mask on, leans back and falls out of the window. He reappears across the alley, scaling the side of a building, half a second later. MJ lets out a laugh and watches until she can't see him anymore.

-

Even MJ can admit it might be a little weird to build a nest out of blankets in her best friend's bed and burrow there like a wild animal. But being weird has never stopped her before, so she grabs a book from her stash in Peter's closet and makes herself at home.

The book is called "The Girl With All The Gifts". It's one that MJ has read at least four times and she's seen the movie twice. She loves how the author makes you fall in love with Melanie, and even sympathize with her a little, before revealing her to be a zombie. Then there's Miss Justineau, Melanie's teacher, who loves her dearly but can't afford to forget what she is. Her empathy ends up costing Miss Justineau her freedom and ultimately, the rest of her life. MJ wonders if it was worth it. She wonders if loving Melanie was enough for Miss Justineau. In some twisted way, MJ feels like she can relate. She loves Peter so much that she forgets who he is. MJ suddenly realizes she's been staring at the same page without really seeing it for a few minutes now. She takes a deep breath and rolls on her side, pressing her cheek into Peter's pillow. It smells like him, like his hair, and it's suffocating.

When she opens her eyes again, the room is much darker and there's a shuffling noise next to her head. She tilts her head back and sees Peter closing the window, which means she must have dozed off. He seems to think she's still asleep, based on how slowly he's moving. MJ hears a dull whirring sound, then Peter's suit literally drops off his body and her face is six inches away from his underwear. Under normal circumstances, she would never complain about being this close to Peter's dick, but her mouth runs faster than her brain sometimes, so..

"When were you gonna tell me you wear Avengers underwear?"

"Jesus, Em!" Peter shrieks, leaping up and landing on the ceiling. MJ sticks her head out from under the top bunk and looks up at him.

"Good morning."

Peter sighs heavily and drops his feet down, dangling by his fingertips for a moment before letting go. 

"It's nine o'clock." He whispers, "And I thought you were asleep!"

"I was! Until someone broke into my room!" They both realize MJ's slip up at the same time and collectively choose to ignore it.

"Well, go back to sleep. Believe it or not, I'm exhausted. I chased this one car all the way to Jersey City." Peter shuffles over to his closet and rummages around for a shirt. MJ watches him through half closed eyes, sleep already threatening to take over again.

"I'm gonna go wash up." Peter says softly. MJ hums in response. It takes everything in her to stay awake while she listens to the familiar sounds of the shower.

When Peter emerges again, only about five minutes have passed. He shuts the bedroom door behind him so gently it's inaudible. MJ halfheartedly scoots over until her back is against the wall, then throws the blanket open so Peter can climb in. He watches her do this with an expression she can't read, and there's a split second where he hesitates and she thinks he's going to take the top bunk instead, then he crawls in beside her and shifts until he's flat on his back. Peter's shoulder is close enough to MJ's hand where it rests on the bed that if she stretches her pinky out, she could just barely touch him.

She doesn't.

When she inhales, the scent of lavender bodywash and crisp deodorant fills her lungs. MJ dares to look away from her hands, at Peter's face, and he's close enough for her to see the sparse, tiny hairs on his jaw. He'll shave them off in the morning while MJ brushes her teeth. Just like they did yesterday, and the day before, and every day this week.

They've done a lot of things together, but they've never done this.

MJ has never fallen asleep in Peter's bed before. Well, not on Peter's bunk, at least. She usually sleeps on the top bunk (because it has a small lamp clipped to the corner and she reads to fall asleep) or on the floor next to Ned, in a bundle of blankets, or on the couch, on the armchair.... but never in Peter's bed.

Therefore, Peter has never chosen to lay down next to her, to sleep beside her. He's still awake right now. MJ can see that his eyes are open, staring up at the top bunk, and his eyebrows are furrowed a little bit. She wonders briefly if he doesn't _want_ to sleep next to her, if he felt pressured to lay down, if that's why there are lines in his face that aren't normally there, and then Peter speaks in a voice so low that if they weren't _this_ close right now, she wouldn't be able to hear him.

"There was a kidnapping today."

MJ gasps sharply because _of all the things to say right now_ , holy shit.

"Is that why you went to Jersey City?" Fuck, her eyelids are drooping again, _stay awake, MJ, for fucks sake._

"Yeah." Peter nods minusculely. "I don't know what kind of car they were in but I've never seen someone be able to get out of the city so fast. They hit every single green light, didn't get caught on the bridge or at the toll.. it was crazy. If I hadn't seen it happen, if I hadn't kept tabs on the car... Em, she would have been gone." Peter stops to take a breath and MJ's fingers twitch, anxious to comfort him but too scared because this is a tender moment and she doesn't know if that's allowed with the position they're in, if her touching him would come off the wrong way.

"The cops rounded him up in Jersey, thank God because I would have been screwed trying to keep up on all that open road. I hate feeling, like.. powerless. When I'm not in a city." _When there are no buildings to swing from._ MJ's brain translates.

"Did they save her? The cops?" Even to her own ears, MJ's voice sounds too soft and slow. She knows she has maybe two more minutes before she inevitably falls back asleep.

"Yeah." Peter sighs, his voice cracking on the way out, "She was scared but she was okay." 

There's a rustling sound and MJ's heartrate picks up in alarm before she realizes it's Peter's hand, running over the blanket in the space between them. She blinks in confusion, and then his hand stills, flips over so his palm is up, and it clicks. _Oh._ He was searching for her.

MJ inches her hand towards his, unsure at first, but then Peter's eyes dart over to his own hand and he doesn't move, so this must be what he wanted.

MJ places her hand in his and squeezes once.

"Night, loser." She slurs, eyes drooping closed.

"Night, MJ."


	2. since

MJ dreams of a time she doesn't like to remember.

When she's 6 days shy of her 16th birthday, her neighbor and kind of friend, Peter Parker, closes his bedroom window for the first time ever.

Being 15-almost-16 is already, like, the worst time to be alive. Pretty much everyone has crippling anxiety and raging hormones, and MJ is no exception. When she walks into her room after school that afternoon and notices the blinds on the window tightly closed, her breath is knocked out of her. _Oh my god, Peter hates me._ Because. Obviously.

She thinks about it and realizes Peter wasn't in any of their shared classes today - English II, World History, Advanced Physics, she didn't even see him at lunch! He must have gone to the principal and gotten a schedule change.

The dream fades through MJ verging on a panic attack that night, through the next week of not seeing Peter at school, of not hearing from him at all when normally, he texts her at least once a week.

It's not quite a nightmare. At least, not yet.

Time passes the way it does in dreams. One second, MJ is laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, then the next, she's seeing Peter for the first time in a month, and part of her wants to march up to him and demand answers, part of her wishes she were invisible, and then another part of her is thinking _holy shit what is wrong with him_.

He's sitting with Ned in their usual lunch spot, but he doesn't seem to be paying attention to whatever Ned's saying. Instead, he's staring blankly at his uneaten food, leaning his chest against the table like he needs it for support. He almost seems like he's not even breathing.

As MJ walks slowly forward, she sees the bags under Peter's eyes are heavy and black. Like, actually black. He suddenly looks up and meets her gaze, as if he could feel her staring, and MJ gasps when she sees the redness of his eyes. He flinches like he heard her, even though she's standing maybe 20 feet away. Peter's face hardens into a glare before he looks away from MJ, back down at the table.

MJ is frozen with her tray of food, facing the end of Ned and Peter's table, where she usually sits, but she can't force her feet to walk that way. Her throat is tight and her face feels funny. Unnatural.

So she leaves. She marches out of the cafeteria, then she's staring at the ceiling in the hallway, then the ceiling of the library, and she distantly hears the librarian asking if she's okay, but she can't answer. MJ stares upward because the minute she looks down, the tears will fall.

And she won't cry over Peter Parker.

So MJ doesn't look down.

-

MJ wakes up with her chest pressed against something warm. Her nose is itching, but when she tries to scratch it, her hand won't move. She inhales deeply and blinks her eyes open. The first thing she notices is that the room is still dark - only the first few rays of sunlight are blooming through the window. The next thing she realizes is that she's not alone; there's a warm body wrapped around hers and someone huffing short, warm breaths against her neck.

_Peter._

MJ takes a moment to process this information. She's not fully awake yet and the disorientation of waking up in an unexpected place has her reeling for a minute. She tries to move again and when that fails, she takes inventory: two feet, one trapped between Peter's legs, one sticking out from under the blanket. Two legs, one thrown over Peter's body, one attached to the stuck foot. Two arms, one tucked between her stomach and Peter's chest, one being crushed under his ribs, both asleep and unmovable. One face, covered in sweaty hair that could belong to either of them.

Okay, MJ can breathe, all of her parts are intact, even if she can't feel them all yet.

But.. what does she do? How does she escape this prison? She pries her face up from where it was attached to the top of Peter's head via dried up drool (gross gross gross), and surveys the situation. She can't really see Peter's face, but she feels his nose against her neck and if _that_ doesn't get her pulse thrumming through her body.. god, this dumb boy is going to be the death of her.

Speaking of that dumb boy, when MJ moves her head away, he mumbles a little in his sleep and begins to fidget. MJ is immediately flooded with relief because if he wakes up, she can untangle herself and go to the bathroom. However, that relief is quickly replaced by anxiety because if Peter wakes up, he'll realize they were, like, _cuddling_ , and what if he acts weird? Peter, still asleep and completely oblivious, presses his cheek right below MJ's collarbone.

MJ's heart is positively pounding. This can't be good for her health. She should really visit a cardiologist.

MJ mentally starts listing the various heart conditions she probably has while bending her useless fingers until they start to tingle. The arm that was against Peter's chest has completely woken up, which means she can use it to push Peter back and free her legs and other arm. He snorts softly and frowns a little when MJ rolls him onto his back. She pulls the blanket over him so he doesn't get cold and wake up before she can escape to the bathroom.

Before MJ scoots off the foot of the bed, she allows herself thirty seconds to admire Peter's sleeping face. He has pink lines on his right cheek from laying on her shirt and his hair is absolutely wild, sticking out in a million directions. Peter's face is relaxed in a way MJ hardly ever sees. She leans down as if she were going to kiss him and pretends for that moment that she is. MJ would never really do it, but the thought is enough to make her shiver. She crawls off the bed before Peter has a chance to wake up and freak out.

MJ brushes her teeth while she's in the bathroom, breaking their routine for a third time this sleepover. First they fell asleep early, then MJ woke up before Peter, which never happens, and now, she's not waiting for him to wake up before she gets ready for the day.

She hangs out in the kitchen for a minute, first chugging a full glass of water, then checking the clock on the microwave to see that it's almost 7am. She scavenges for food and finds a banana and raisin bran cereal. There's never any milk in the fridge because according to Aunt May, "Almonds are killing the ecosystem and cows are being tortured!" to which MJ had responded "What about coconut milk?" and Aunt May said "Tastes like soap." So the Parker house is officially a milkless place.

MJ smuggles her findings back to Peter's room with the intention of eating after the taste of toothpaste leaves her mouth. She finds Peter laying where she left him, awake and looking at his phone.

"Sup, loser." She greets him. He spares her a glance and smiles when he sees her stolen food.

"Do you wanna go get breakfast somewhere?" His morning voice is quiet but it cracks at least three times anyway. MJ takes a seat in the computer chair and places the food on Peter's desk.

"Like where?"

"I dunno. McDonalds?" They've never woken up this early after a sleepover and MJ is kind of digging the slow morning vibe.

"McDonalds sounds good." MJ considers. "Wait!" She stomps both feet on the ground, "It's Saturday!"

Peter eyes her suspiciously.

"Yeah? So?"

"It's Ned day!" Peter jumps up so fast, he almost hits his head on the top bunk.

"Oh my god! Ned's coming back today!" Peter leaps off the bed and jumps up to high-five the ceiling in excitement. MJ giggles and takes the opportunity to fish her phone out from under the blanket. She scrolls back through her, Peter, and Ned's groupchat (lovingly named "meany needy and petey", which MJ promptly changes to "BACKSTREETS BACK ALRIGHT"), until she finds his flight information. Peter continues to jump in place until his adrenaline rush subsides.

"Oh my god, I'm going to pass out and die right now." Peter gasps for breath. "Never let me do that before breakfast again."

MJ rolls her eyes on autopilot and 'aha's when she finds the message she was looking for.

"Says here they land at 9:05am. Do you still have Ned's keys? If you factor in twenty minutes for them to get their bags, a twenty-four minute taxi ride home unless there's traffic for some reason, but on a Saturday? I doubt it." MJ pauses to take a breath.

"Then that puts them walking in the front door at 10:49am. It's currently," She glances at the time on her phone, "7:12am. It takes thirteen minutes to walk to McDonalds - five if we swing, just saying - fifteen minutes to order and eat, then twenty-one minutes if we take the subway, _nine if we swing_ , I'm _just_ saying," She takes another breath, "So that's a total of 49 minutes until we walk in the door of Ned's house, which means we need to leave here by 9:54. That gives us a five minute grace period for unseen complications and enough time to watch at least two episodes of Umbrella Academy, if you're down for that."

MJ almost has to catch her breath after that tirade, but she got all the information out of her brain and that's all that matters. When she looks up from her phone, Peter is staring at her with his mouth open.

"Close that thing, you're going to catch flies." Peter snaps his jaw shut obediently. He continues to stare, glassy eyed, until MJ sighs.

"What?!" She snaps, but there's no fire behind it.

"You're." Peter shakes his head like a dog, and what is it with her and comparing Peter to dogs, anyway?

"You're a brainiac." Peter manages eventually. MJ shrugs one shoulder halfheartedly.

"Am I? Or am I just utilizing my problem solving human nature?" She spins once in the computer chair for good measure.

"Do you believe in evolution?" Peter squeaks.

"Absolutely not." MJ answers. Her stomach growls so she snatches the cereal from the desk and takes a fistful straight out of the box, then stuffs it in her mouth.

When she looks up again, Peter's still watching her, not blinking, and that won't do. She can't have him going blind because he forgot how to close his eyes, so she throws a fruity-O right at his nose. She misses by a mile but it snaps him into action and he jerks his body to the side so the cereal lands perfectly in his mouth.

"Show off." Bits of chewed up cereal fly out of her mouth when MJ scolds him and in return, Peter pretends to throw up, like a mature legal adult.

MJ pushes past him on her way to the living room.

"So, Umbrella Academy?"

-

They end up making it to Ned's place a little early. Not because MJ feels anxious about getting there on time; she's totally chill, as always. She did try to bribe Peter with an extra Big Mac (yes, Peter Parker eats a Big Mac for breakfast. Plus fifteen hashbrowns.), hoping he would put on the suit and get them there twice as fast, but he insists they save it for emergency use only. MJ scoffs at that - Peter keeps one web slinger on when he's at home and regularly uses it to make his life more convenient.

She knows what Peter won't say out loud, which is that if she's photographed with Spiderman too often, people will start to recognize her and that makes things complicated.

So, she relents and they take public transit like two normal people.

They make a big deal of sneaking into Ned's apartment building, which is immediately made irrelevant when the guy at the front desk recognizes them and shouts a greeting. They wave at him and continue tiptoe-ing to the elevator just for the hell of it.

Ned's keys catch in the lock and momentarily get stuck, causing Peter to curse and rattle the key. The metal starts to bend so MJ slaps her hand over Peter's and pushes him away.

"Jesus, let me do it before you break the lock." She mutters, gently removing the key and placing it back in carefully. "Fucking, Incredible Hulk over here. Can't even unlock a door."

The lock clicks easily when MJ turns the key and she shoots Peter a smug smile. He purses his lips and glares past her, into Ned's living room.

After some bickering, Peter convinces MJ they can relax for the next fifteen minutes by starting another episode of Umbrella Academy. (Really, they have a problem, it's not even that good.) So they pile onto Ned's queen sized bed - lucky bastard - and pull up the next episode on Peter's phone. Over the next few seconds, they both shuffle around until the right side of MJ's body is pressed along the left side of Peter's.

Obviously, MJ needs to be close so she can see the screen, that's why they're almost overlapping in the middle of the bed instead of leaving room for Jesus. MJ wills her body to relax and sends a prayer up to whatever higher power might be listening.

When Peter brings his phone close to their faces, it means his elbow is resting pretty much _on_ her boob, and playing it cool has never been so fucking difficult for MJ before this very moment.

She can hardly focus on what's happening in the show because she's too preoccupied with timing her breathing, not exhaling too hard, not inhaling too fast, making sure her face isn't turned too much so she's not breathing directly onto Peter's hands because that's probably really weird, all that fun stuff. Fifteen minutes feels like an eternity. When they finally hear the front door open, MJ jumps up almost as fast as Peter. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him check the time on his phone. 10:49am exactly. They smirk at each other. MJ has never been wrong, ever, in her life.

There's an excruciatingly long minute of nothing but listening to Ned's family get settled in, then the door to Ned's room opens, and-

"SURPRISE!"

"WELCOME HOME, NERD!"

Peter and MJ's shouts overlap each other, effectively making Ned jump about a foot in the air before his face breaks out into a huge smile.

"Peter! MJ! Oh my god, I missed you guys!"

Peter races forward and wraps his arms around Ned's waist, lifting him up effortlessly and spinning in two full circles before setting him back down. MJ can't even pretend like she's not impressed. And a little turned on. That boy is strong as fuck.

Peter holds onto Ned for another minute, hugging him tightly and muttering things like, "Never leave me for so long again" and "MJ tried to kill me three times", which is probably an exaggeration, but whatever. When their moment is over, Ned turns to MJ and reaches out, but before he can touch her she shrieks at top volume, making Peter yelp and cover his ears.

"Don't even breathe on me until you wash off those airport germs in the shower!" MJ yells, flinching backward onto the bed again. "Some of us don't have superhuman immune systems!"

Ned chortles and balls his fists at her like he wants to squeeze her.

"I missed you, too, MJ. I'm gonna go take the world's fastest shower so I can give you A HUGE HUG!" The end of his sentence comes out as a yell, then he turns and tails it to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, they're all huddled on Ned's bed, admiring his nails and how two weeks of sunshine darkened his skin.

"They had so many colors to choose from," Ned says about the nail salon, "but I just _had_ to do red and blue, because, y'know." He ducks his head bashfully and flexes his hands so Peter and MJ can get a good look.

"Aww, Ned, they look great! Honestly, I'm honored. Thank you." Peter gushes, running his fingers over Ned's painted nails.

"I'm proud of you for not being afraid to express yourself." MJ says, punctuating the sentence by holding her hand up for a high five. Ned happily obliges and they all share a moment of just grinning at each other. (Well, MJ offers a small smile, it's the least she can do.)

Before long, Peter and Ned are rattling off in great detail about some obscure nerd thing that MJ has no interest in, so she stretches out on the bed and resigns herself to scrolling through her favorite website: reddit.com/r/todayilearned.

She scrolls down and absorbs as much information as she possibly can, while periodically interrupting the conversation happening next to her when she finds a particularly wacky fact.

"Did you guys know, in Iceland, if you don’t know the address of where you want your mail to go, you can hand-draw a map to your destination on the envelope."

"Really, MJ?" Ned answers more often than not, "That's so cool!"

Then Peter starts talking again, so MJ starts scrolling again, and the cycle continues. It's only when Peter's stomach starts grumbling that they realize several hours have passed. Ned politely declines leaving the comfort of his home again, saying he would rather decompress alone in his room. Peter returns Ned's keys and makes him promise they'll hang out tomorrow, then MJ tugs his arm and they begin the journey back to their own houses.

-

MJ's mom is working in the kitchen when they bust through the front door.

"Hi, mom!"

"Hey, Miss J!"

Peter and MJ slide their shoes off in sync and elbow each other as they race to the kitchen. Peter hops onto the first available counter space he sees, so MJ's mom swats him playfully with a dish towel.

"Peter Parker, you get down from there!" She scolds him in a firm voice, but the smile on her face betrays her tone.

"But Miss J!" Peter protests, widening his eyes, "My legs are SO sore from all the walking we just did."

MJ rolls her eyes at this blatant lie, already leafing through a book that was waiting for her on the counter.

"I don't hear Michelle complaining." Her mom points out, reaching a hand out to tousle MJ's hair. She hisses through her teeth and dodges out of the way, her cheeks flushed.

"What are you cooking, Mama?" MJ says as a distraction. Her mom squints and side eyes her for a second before giving in.

"I'm making chicken salad, no cooking involved. Sandra's coming over for lunch, she'll be here soon." With that, she turns back to a bowl on the counter and starts tossing various ingredients in.

"Oooh, Sandra's coming?" MJ teases, elbowing Peter's leg. He grins down at her and joins in.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Miss J! When were you going to introduce me?" He jeers.

"She's not my girlfriend! At least, not yet." Mom admits, busying herself with stirring the chicken salad. "She's not exactly dying to meet our annoying next door neighbor, either." Peter clutches his chest and hunches over. 

"Ow! You wound me!" He cries. MJ cackles once before she can help herself, then turns the page of her book as if she's been reading this whole time. Her mom pauses her stirring to smile at Peter.

"Somehow, I think you'll survive. Now, why don't you make yourself useful and set the table? We need crackers, pickles, plates, forks, and knives."

MJ watches Peter slide off the counter and start locating objects from the list. She makes a point of standing directly in his path whenever possible. He shoves her out of the way playfully every time. MJ follows him to the dining room and sits at the table while he sets it. She's finally able to focus on her book for a minute until the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it!" Peter cries.

"Like hell you will!" MJ yells back, jumping up from the table and almost tackling Peter in her effort to get to the door first.

"Will you two quit it!" Her mom snaps from the kitchen. MJ emerges victorious at the front door and opens it before Peter has a chance to protest.

"Hiiiiii, Sandra!" MJ smiles her biggest, most exaggerated smile at the woman on the porch. The bright afternoon sun seems to shine from Sandra, who is probably the tallest woman MJ has ever seen.

"Hi, Michelle. Call me Sandy, please." MJ steps back so Sandy can enter. She's wearing a yellow dress over black tights; _no wonder her thing is sunflowers_ , MJ thinks. Despite already being over six feet tall, Sandy is wearing black heels. _Biggest fucking power mood._ A voice in MJ's head whispers. It sounds suspiciously like Peter. MJ looks up to see how he's taking in this absolute goddess of a woman and finds him frozen in place, looking appropriately awestruck.

"Sandy, this is Peter. He lives next door."

"Nice to meet you, Peter-from-next-door." Sandy smiles and MJ swears she sees Peter's jaw drop even more.

"You are." Peter manages, "Very beautiful." MJ has to hold in her laughter, because she had the exact same reaction the first time she met Sandra. Sandy turns to MJ, her blonde curls flopping over her shoulder.

"I like him." She stage-whispers, then winks. MJ shrugs.

"Me too." And she means it.

Everyone moves on easily, as if MJ had never said it; Sandy clicks her heels to the kitchen to greet MJ's mom, Peter watches her for a second, then turns to MJ and mouths 'WOW'. None of them know just how monumental this moment is. MJ likes Peter. She wants to scream it. _I LIKE PETER. I_ LOVE _PETER._

She doesn't have time to linger on the thought of loving Peter, however, because soon they're all sitting down and eating chicken salad on crackers with pickle wedges. A bottle of lemonade rests on the table between Peter and MJ's plates. They're sitting across from each other so that MJ's mom and Sandra can sit across from each other and make googly eyes back and forth.

Peter started a game of taking a swig of lemonade from the bottle every time one of the ladies gets flustered and looks away. MJ joins in quickly, and soon, they're making pointed eye contact when Sandra fiddles with her napkin for too long, then again when MJ's mom fake coughs into her sleeve, then again when Sandra accidentally kicks MJ's mom under the table and apologizes way too many times.

Peter almost fails to cover his laughter more than once, so then the game becomes, how absurd can MJ make her facial expressions before Peter chokes on his food? It doesn't take long to find out. MJ gets carried away with bugging her eyes and puffing out her cheeks, until Peter has tears running down his face and the original game is forgotten.

MJ cracks a smile and steals a pickle from Peter's plate while his defenses are down. She reaches for the bowl of chicken salad in the middle of the table, only to realize her mom and Sandra are watching her with something akin to fondness.

"What?" MJ demands, her smile turning into a frown. Her mom shrugs and Sandy turns away.

"Nothing." Mom says in a voice just a touch too high pitched.

"O-kay." MJ drags out the word and pinches a bite of chicken salad straight out of the bowl, just to be a brat. Her mom ignores the bait, however, so MJ scowls at her plate until she feels Peter kick her foot. She looks up and sees that his cheeks are dark red from laughter. She wonders if his face gets sore from smiling all the time, like he's doing now.

His smile morphs into a look of concern when he notices her unhappy expression, and the way his face changes reminds MJ of her dream, which sours her good mood even more. The moment only gets worse when Peter's phone buzzes and he looks at it before saying, 'ah', in a tone that means he's about to say something MJ isn't going to like.

"Aunt May says I have to come do laundry." And, yep, that's definitely not what MJ wants to hear, because the next thing he's going to say is- "See you tomorrow?"

Peter's tone is way too hopeful, it almost makes MJ nauseous. Until she realizes, she's also gutted that their Saturday is coming to an early end, and seeing Peter tomorrow feels like eons away. She feels her head nod without consent from her brain, and then Peter is saying goodbye to MJ's mom, and telling Sandy it was nice to meet her, then he's putting his shoes on at the door and MJ really shouldn't be so sad about him leaving, but she is.

MJ forces her body to get up from the table and walk to the front door before Peter can walk out. She channels her expression into something she hopes is neutral so when Peter looks at her, he can't tell what she's thinking.

MJ glances at the table to make sure her mom isn't watching them, because that would make her feel even more unsettled. Thankfully, Sandy has captivated Mom's attention again, so nobody is paying attention to Peter and MJ.

"See you tomorrow?" Peter repeats in a quiet voice.

When MJ looks at him, he's staring up at her intensely. His eyes roam over her face and MJ wonders what he sees there. She's done a pretty good job of smothering her disappointment, so he's searching with no avail. Peter's sharp brown eyes lock onto hers and MJ can't breathe, _again_. Fuck.

"MJ?" Peter's voice cracks, and she thinks, this is it, she's going to tell him, she's going to open her mouth and-

"Did you know a spike in the hormone called progesterone is what causes premenstrual symptoms?" is what she blurts out instead. She feels her face heat up, _why the fuck would she say that oh my god_.

Peter takes it in stride. He doesn't even blink before responding.

"Yeah, 'course I knew that." His tone is almost frustratingly even. His voice doesn't even crack once. MJ hates Peter-fucking-Parker and how he can play it cool when she needs him to be a fumbling, blushing mess.

"Okay." MJ says simply, "Just making sure." Now _her_ voice is coming out as a squeak. "See you tomorrow."

Peter nods, smiles, and slips out the door. MJ lets out a huge sigh and slumps against the closed door, leaning her forehead into the cold wood.

"Everything okay?" Her mom dares to ask.

"Peachy." MJ groans.

"Oh! Michelle, I forgot!" Sandy pipes up in her cheery voice, "I brought a book for you. It's one of my brother's old books but I thought you might-"

MJ crosses the room in three steps, almost yanking the book from Sandy's hands. Trust good ole Sandy to be her saving grace in a moment of peril like this. MJ marvels at the worn cover. It reads _"GONE. This is the way the world ends."_ Which MJ instantly recognizes as a series she read and loved way back in freshman year. She's so happy, her heart might beat out of her chest.

"Thank you, Sandy!" MJ gushes, and really, she's only putting on such a show because it came from the woman who might be her future stepmom, but there's no shortage of genuine thankfulness behind her words.

"I'm going to go read it right now. Thanks!" MJ hugs the book to her chest and gives Sandy a closed lip smile. She still has to earn MJ's unguarded affection, but for now, one smile is probably okay.

Sandy looks like she just won the lottery. MJ can't bear to look at her sunshine face any longer, so she ducks into the hallway and jogs to her room. She can almost hear her mom and Sandy exchange a few hushed sentences before she becomes too invested in the book to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i read every single comment so please keep them coming!! i want to hear all your criticisms!
> 
> be my friend on twitter @zendayawlw

**Author's Note:**

> ahh my first spideychelle fic!!! and it's a doozy!! not an original concept at all but i hope yall enjoy it nonetheless. this is my first time writing in present tense so please feel free to offer advice! i would benefit greatly from a beta reader so please dm me if you're down to criticize my shit.
> 
> i don't know how long this will be. it was supposed to be a 10k~ oneshot but the last time i said something would be a 10k oneshot it turned into a 40k fic so. we'll see lmaooo.
> 
> im new to stan twitter and to the hoco fandom so if you have a twitter BE MY FRIEND
> 
> @zendayawlw  
> on twitter and instagram
> 
> myheartiswithyoualways.tumblr.com
> 
> but i mostly post 1d and shitposts so follow at your own risk
> 
> -ariel


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